Prince Harry is expected to announce his engagement to Meghan Markle imminently after bookmakers today suspended betting on another royal wedding.
Speculation has been ramped up in recent weeks that Harry could have proposed to the 36-year-old US actress, with the couple said to be ‘head over heels’ in love.
And bookmakers have now decided to pull all bets on when the engagement will take place, amid rumours that the BBC is now primed for the announcement.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, pictured at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September, are expected to announce their engagement imminently
Harry made his first public appearance with her at the Invictus Games where they had a kiss
A Ladbrokes spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Royal watchers would love a Christmas engagement announcement, and as far as we’re concerned it’s coming imminently.
‘Meghan has met her prince charming and it looks like this fairytale is going to end happy ever after.’
Divorcee Miss Markle, who has been dating Harry since last summer, is thought to be moving her dogs to the UK amid claims she is planning to live in London with him.
She is said to be trying to ensure her Labrador shepherd cross, Bogart, and beagle, Guy, who she has previously described as ‘my loves’, can join her Britain.
The actress has been rumoured to be leaving for the UK ever since she and Harry made a public display of affection at the Invictus Games in Canada in September.
In other signs of moving preparations, Miss Markle, who stars in legal TV drama Suits, has been cutting back on her Hollywood commitments.
Harry has introduced his celebrity girlfriend to the Queen over tea at Buckingham Palace
Miss Markle was spotted in West London on Tuesday after a beauty treatment at an exclusive clinic (left). She is also pictured on the way to a film set in Toronto last November (right)
It is understood that Miss Markle has moved out of her rented Toronto home, where she has been living for the last five years.
She is now in the process of shipping her belongings over to the UK to embark on a new life with the fifth in line to throne.
Harry made his first public appearance with his American girlfriend at the Invictus Games where they were seen holding hands and exchanging a kiss.
And last month, Harry introduced his celebrity girlfriend to the Queen over tea at Buckingham Palace.
Miss Markle was spotted in Chelsea on Tuesday after a beauty treatment at an exclusive West London clinic where the Beckhams are said to be regulars.
The couple were also seen holding hands during the event in Canada two months ago
Harry and Miss Markle share a kiss following a polo event in Coworth, Berkshire, in May
Research has previously indicated that Harry and his girlfriend are distant cousins related through a late 15th Century ancestor of the Queen Mother.
And Miss Markle’s great-great-great grandparents, Thomas and Mary Sykes, were born in Yorkshire and left for Pennsylvania in 1869 in search of a better life.
This would not be the first time a royal has married an American, with King Edward VIII famously abdicating in 1936 after he married twice divorced Wallis Simpson.
Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, announced their engagement on November 16, 2010, and married on April 29, 2011.
A Kensington Palace spokesman declined to comment to MailOnline today.